Not allowed for counselling, PhD aspirants stage protest

TNN | Updated: Jul 5, 2019, 14:04 IST

Picture used for representational purpose only

AGRA: Over 100 students who had applied for pursuing research at Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University staged a protest outside Paliwal Park campus alleging that the university administration violated UGC guidelines in the counselling process and excluded them from the admissions. According to sources, 150 students who had applied for research under the M.Phil and NET-qualified category alleged that the university administration did not include them in the admission process claiming that only those with junior research fellowship (JRF) and M.Phil from Agra university were eligible to appear for counselling. Speaking to TOI, Ashutosh, one of the applicants, said, “I am a NET-qualified candidate and had come all the way from Noida to attend the PhD counselling. However, the university authorities rejected my candidature stating that only those with JRF will be allowed to appear for counselling. This was not mentioned in the admission notification. Even though we raised an objection, the officials were not ready to listen to our plea.” Another aspirant Raman Kumar said, “Agra university has cheated students by not allowing eligible candidates to appear for counselling. I have come all the way from Delhi for admission and even missed an interview to the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Despite being eligible, several students like me are being denied a chance. There is a lot of malpractice going on in the university.” University registrar KN Singh said, “The entire PhD admission process is taking place in a fair and transparent manner. Applicants who have secured JRF and those who have completed M.Phil from Agra university will be given admission. All the allegations made by the students are baseless.”